The Warnings

Lorraine Douglas is the youth services co-ordinator at the Winnipeg
Public Library.

First published in 1989 under the title The Guardian Circle, this book
has been reissued with a new silver-and-black cover depicting a
terror-stricken girl. Although the cover evokes horror а la Stephen
King, the novel, with its central theme of coming to terms with loss, is
extremely subtle in its incorporation of supernatural elements.

Teenage Rachel has been deposited with her Aunt Irene in Winnipeg while
her father drives a truck to British Columbia. Rachel is troubled not
only by her mother’s desertion but by visions that warn her of
impending events. In her attic bedroom, she becomes aware of a dark
shadow and feels that she is living in a nightmare. Accompanied by Will,
a neighborhood boy, she begins to discover the meaning of the Warnings
through the use of an Ouija board.

Although not what the cover would lead one to expect, this is an
exciting and compelling story nevertheless. Recommended.